Just in from our partners at Tennesseeans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty: The Tennesseean newspaper ran an informal reader poll last week, in which 93% of respondents said Tennessee should abolish capital punishment entirely.
A smaller group (roughly 3%) supported an indefinite pause, while others advocated reforming the state’s death penalty. Just over 2% of respondents said Tennessee’s death penalty should continue as currently administered.
This follows years of formal polling by Gallup and Pew that show American opposition to the death penalty at or near record-high levels. It also comes just weeks after Tennessee tortured Tony Carruthers to death in a brutal, 90-minute-long botched execution. State residents have every reason to demand an end to executions in their name.
The Tennessean quoted several respondents, including Timothy Holton-Overcast of Shelbyville, whose family was murdered by Daryl Holton in 1997:
I know what murder takes from a family. I also know what an execution gives back: nothing. Daryl’s execution did not bring Stephen, Brent, Eric or Kayla home. It did not heal our family or make Nov. 30 hurt less. It simply added another death to a story already overflowing with it. But justice should be more than our ability to reproduce the violence we condemn.
